Songfacts®:

• When Flatland Cavalry's tour of the US took them through the Pacific Northwest in 2017, the West Texas band was in awe of the natural beauty of the mountainous landscape with its flowing rivers and fragrant pine trees.
  
  Inspired by the experience, frontman Cleto Cordero penned the scenic ballad "Mountain Song" and tucked it away until the right project came along. That ended up being the 2022 EP Songs To Keep You Warm. When the band met with producer Bruce Robison, a fellow Texas musician who wrote and originally recorded the Dixie Chicks hit "Travelin' Soldier," he brought the tune to life.
  
  "I didn't think anything of it until we got into the studio one day with Bruce, and the recording came out magic," Cordero told The Boot.
• The idea for the EP came to Cordero fully formed after he returned home from a grueling tour. "I was in the kind of place where I was completely exhausted, both mentally and physically, and laying there in a state of surrender, the entire idea for this EP just flashed into my mind: The studio and producer, the songs and the theme, Songs To Keep You Warm," he recalled.
• The band, whose third album, Welcome To Countryland, dropped in the summer of 2021, had never released a fall project before. Cordero thought their fans would find comfort in a set of songs to accompany the chilly, overcast days of the season - even if most of the tunes are rather sad. "There's something about a sad song pairing with the seasons," he told Songfacts in a 2022 interview. "For some people, sad songs make them happy or make them feel less alone because someone else experiences the same emotion as they have, so that's kind of the sentiment."
• Although he loved how "Mountain Song" turned out, Cordero was surprised it was chosen as the lead single over a track like the lonely love song "Parallel."
  
  "To me, it seems more on the folkier, B-side kind of vibe, whereas 'Parallel' is like a hit sound," he explained, "so I was shocked that that was our choice to take to radio, but luckily there are radio stations that play stuff off the beaten path. I'm just glad it's out there being listened to."